Gales and Storms

As I write this, a gale is raging outside.  I don't know if it is the tail end of Doris and or new one - maybe Edna or Elizabeth or Eileen.  Whatever the name it is music to my beach combing ears since last week, after Doris, I ventured forth in two days of epic beach combing which gave me the following finds. 

Ballydowane has been almost devoid of flotsam for weeks but when I got there last Friday it was visible in a line across the beach.  Shingle that had been removed was returned in different places and all the usual locations of flotsam were empty whilst in places where usually nothing washes in were cartons, balloons and a host of other plastic paraphernalia that has the unlikely effect of making my blood course excitedly through my veins.  An hour later, walking back down the beach loaded up with oil barrels and milk cartons, I was still excited and looked like a happy, pink-cheeked beach tramp.

The next day I went to Clonea via Ballyvoile.  The 'back beach', as I call it, at Clonea is quite inaccessible but gets the best treasures.  Again no disappointment but by the end dismay at the sheer amount of things washed in.  Almost all human garbage is there.  By far the most numerous were lids and shotgun wads.  There were 4 dead seals in total also, all missing their heads.